Diatomaceous Earth Pest Control for Irises

Treat your iris garden with diatomaceous earth food grade and you will control the borer pests and also grow healthy plants that will produce beautiful blooms.  

For healthy irises with beautiful blooms follow my pest control tips.
photo of my garden..Sgolis

For the past week, I have been cleaning up my gardens by removing the oak leaves that fell from the trees at the end of March, the first week of April.  When I got to my iris gardens I noticed that the wet leaves that covered the tubers had attracted borers.   

The borers will eat the tubers and weaken the health of the plant and if the iris is left untreated the borers will eventually kill the irises.  I acted quickly to this infestation of pests by treating the garden with diatomaceous earth food grade.

When it comes to treating my garden for pests I prefer to use a natural substance that will not harm humans, wildlife, and pets.  Over the years I have had excellent results with diatomaceous earth when I use it for yard and garden pest control.

Instructions

Remove the leaf debris or mulch from your iris bed on a day when there is no wind. 

Fill a powder sugar shaker with diatomaceous earth food grade and take safety steps to protect yourself from inhaling the dust by wearing a fine particle ventilator mask.

Loosen the dirt that surrounds your iris tuber and then shake the diatomaceous into the loosened soil. Cover the dust with soil. This treatment will kill the pests in the soil also. 

Shake the diatomaceous earth food grade all over your iris garden. This treatment will prevent above-the-surface garden pests from eating your tuber or iris leaves.  

Spring showers will cause the diatomaceous earth to enter the soil that surrounds the irises. This is good as it will continue to kill off pests in the soil that feed on iris tubers.  

Watch your garden for any signs of borers.  If you view a yellow streak in your iris leaf or insects crawling on or around your iris tubers then retreat the garden with the diatomaceous earth food grade.  

Notes from Sgolis

Keep your iris garden free of weeds and debris.  As this will enable the iris plants to take in the nutrients from the sun and your plants will be healthy and produce large flowers.

 

List of Plants that Attract Butterflies

Attract butterflies to your yard by planting a garden that will provide nourishment and shelter.  Butterflies will look for forage for the caterpillar stage and adult butterflies will seek nectar from various flowers.  If you provide the butterfly with their needs then butterflies will be attracted to your yard.

Planning a Butterfly Garden

Choose a large sunny area in your yard that has well-drained soil.  This is the area where you will provide the butterflies with a natural environment. 

Choose plants that will attract butterflies to your yard. Plant a variety of flowers with different bloom times. So you can attract butterflies all season. 

Plants that I grow in my butterfly garden

Asters, Autumn Joy Sedum, Asiatic lilies, Black-eyed Susan, Butterfly bush, Butterfly plant, Chamomile, Cardinal flower (red), Chives, Chicory, Chrysanthemum, Clover (white, yellow and red) Comfrey, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Crabapple flowers, Dandelion, Dill, Dogwood blooms, Echinacea Coneflowers, Evening Primrose, Fennel, Garden Mint, Happy returns day lily, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Lilac, Marigold, Meadowsweet, Milkweed,, Mimosa flowers, Parsley, Peony, Petunia, Purple Phlox, Red and Fuchsia Bee Balm, Sage, Sweet Pea, Sweet Autumn Clematis, Thyme, Valerian, Verbena, Yarrow,  Zinnias.

Photographs of a few flowers that grow in my garden

Coneflowers

Black-eyed Susan

Sweet Autumn Clematis

Bee Balm

Garden Mint

Happy Returns Daylily

Mimosa Flower

 

Many people view the dandelion as an invasive weed however the butterfly finds the nectar in this plant to be most desirable.  I recommend that you grow dandelions in a large container.  Set the container next to your butterfly garden.

Other plants that can be invasive are white clover.  I grow white, yellow, and red clover in my side yard as it is directly next to the woods and this area is primarily for the wildlife.  It is a good idea to grow clover in a container or raised garden bed, because if you sow seeds in the lawn, the clover will take over, and can become invasive. Plant a mixture of white, yellow, and red and it will be eye-appealing and fragrant.

Shelter from the Wind

Next, provide the butterfly with shelter from rain and the wind.   You may want to add a butterfly house or plant a large butterfly bush that will break the wind and protect the butterfly.

Making a Butterfly Pond

Clear a section of the garden for a butterfly pond. Remove the grass and dig a hole that is as deep and wide as a plant saucer.  Set the saucer in the center and firm the soil around it.  Fill the saucer with water and wet the dirt on the sides to form mud. The saucer of water will provide hydration and the mud will provide nutritious minerals for many insects.  Keep the soil in this area moist with slow-drip irrigation.

Tips:

Refrain from treating your yard and garden with insecticides as they will kill the caterpillar and butterfly by poisoning their forage.  A butterfly can be killed by resting on an insecticide-treated leaf.

Get a closer look at the butterflies by setting a garden bench next to the garden.
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Related Yard and Garden Secrets Articles by Sgolis

Attract Butterflies with Herbs

Growing Carrots - Home Garden Tips

If you intend to put in an early spring vegetable garden this year then make a point to grow carrots.  Carrots are not only easy to grow they are also nutritious as they will provide you a good source of vitamin A.

You can grow carrots in the ground, in a raised bed, or in a container.  As long as you provide the carrots with their growing requirements you be able to grow and harvest a delicious sweet vegetable.

When to plant

Carrots are a hardy vegetable that prefers to grow in the sun when the weather is cooler. The best time to plant carrots is when the soil has thawed out from winter and can be turned over.  Prepare your carrot bed by turning over the soil with your tiller.  Loosen the soil to 18 inches deep and then work out the soil clumps until the soil texture is loose.  Carrots will grow well in deep soil that is a fine texture and is well-drained. 

Where to plant
Before planting your carrots it is best to test the soil as carrots do not grow well in soils that are acidic.  A pH of 6.0 to 6.8 is agreeable soil for growing carrots.

Planting Carrots
Sow carrot seeds into a prepared garden site in early spring.  Plant the seed ¼ inch deep in rows.  Space the carrots twelve inches apart.   When all the seeds are planted, cover the seedbed lightly with compost and water well.  

Caring for carrots
Keep the carrot bed hydrated during the growing season. Soil that is evenly moist but not wet is best.  

When the seedlings emerge from the soil you may need to thin them out.  Best to have 12 inches in-between plants.  Apply an organic mulch of pine needles, tree bark or wood chips around the carrots to keep the soil moist and cool and to deter weed growth.

 
Tips
You can grow carrots in the ground, in a raised bed, or in a container.

Carrots grow best when there is hydration. Heavy spring showers will bring sweet and delicious carrots as carrots do not grow well in drought or hot weather.  The best temperature to for growing carrots is 60 to 70 degrees.

Fertilize carrots with compost when you sow the seed and then again when the tops are 7 to 8 inches in height.  

Watch the soil line for orange crowns, if you see this then cover them with soil or compost to protect them from sun damage and garden pests. 

Prevent pests; grasshoppers, and wireworms, in the garden by dusting with diatomaceous earth food grade.  

For small yards grow baby carrots (Little Finger) in a container or raised garden bed. These carrots only grow three inches however they are crisp and sweet.